The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has scheduled streamside buffer plantings along Central Pennsylvania streams over the coming two weekends. Volunteers are welcome on both projects.

The CBF will partner with Penn State and Grandview Chase Condo Association to plant 600 native perennials in a naturalized meadow in Lancaster. Work will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 7.

The Grandview Chase community has been working with the Penn State initiative to develop a green master plan for the landscape in their community. After a series of community meetings, partner LandStudies developed a plan for the community that involves a riparian buffer, native meadow plantings, walking trails and tree plantings to improve the stream's health and provide a beautiful, natural community space for residents and neighbors.

The second project will team the CBF with Londonderry Township and Penn State's Greening the Lower Susquehanna Initiative to plant 600 trees along Swatara Creek in Middlwtown. Work will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 14.

After the 2011 floods, Londonderry Township purchased several properties along the Swatara Creek through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The properties frequently flood and make poor locations for houses or other buildings. ThetTownship was awarded a Pennsylvania American Water Grant to restore the properties to their natural wooded state, creating a riparian buffer that will help improve the water quality of the Swatara Creek and help prevent flooding in the future. Last fall, volunteers planted more than 600 trees and the township won two awards for the project.

Kate Austin, Pennsylvania grassroots field organizer for the CBF, noted that trees and other plants are one of the best natural tools to help clean rivers and streams. They improve habitat, keep pollutants out of creeks, increase a stream's ability to purify water, and provide shade and cooler water temperatures critical for aquatic life.